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Dioscorea minutiflora Engl.

Species

Angiosperms > Dioscoreales > Dioscoreaceae > Dioscorea

Characteristics

Rootstock perennial, in age consisting of several horizontally radiating woody arms with a shoot at the outside end, eventually dying back towards the centre to form separate plants; each arm protecting several vertical fleshy tubers about 25 cm. long.. Twining stems prickly, up to 10 m. high, glabrous.. Leaves opposite or occasionally alternate, glabrous; petiole up to 10 cm. long; blade broadly ovate, orbicular or the uppermost reniform, cordate or rounded at the base, shortly acuminate, the lower up to 12 cm. long and 9 cm. broad, the upper 5 cm. long and 6 cm. broad.. Aerial tubers absent.. Inflorescence glabrous.. Male as 7, D. lecardii.. Female as 6, D. odoratissima.. Capsule and seeds not seen.
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A yam. It is a vine plant. The tubers are below a woody crown. They can be at the end of finger like projections. The stems twine to the right. They are round. The leaves are opposite and entire. They can be papery and prickly. There are no bulbils along the stem. The tubers keep developing from year to year.
Perennial climber with spiny stems 12-30 ft high
Rounded several-nerved leaves
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support climber
Foliage retention -
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 6.5 - 9.57
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows in secondary clearings in rainforest in Congo. It is in humid areas and well-drained soils. It suits humid locations. In Kenya it grows between 1,500-2,400 m altitude. It is in areas with more than 700 mm rainfall.
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Abundant principally on the forest edges.
Forest margins.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 1-3
Soil texture 5-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 10-11

Usage

The tubers are roasted, boiled or fried.
Uses food gene source medicinal
Edible roots tubers
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It is grown from the base of the hard branched stem base. The stems need supports to climb over.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 21 - 36
Germination temperacture (C°) 21 - 23
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) 1
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Dioscorea minutiflora world distribution map, present in Benin, Central African Republic, Cabo Verde, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda

Conservation status

Dioscorea minutiflora threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:318274-1
WFO ID wfo-0000392514
COL ID 36CXV
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Dioscorea acarophyta Dioscorea grandibulbosa Dioscorea pendula Dioscorea hystrix Dioscorea armata Dioscorea brevispicata Dioscorea ealensis Dioscorea ekolo Dioscorea lilela Dioscorea litoie Dioscorea pynaertioides Dioscorea engbo Dioscorea multiflora Dioscorea praehensilis var. minutiflora Dioscorea praehensilis var. minutiflora Dioscorea minutiflora
WorldFloraDB 2024